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Magical Girls & Matriarchy

What is a “Magical Girl”?

The Japanese Mahou Shoujo, translated to “Magical Girl” in English, is a media genre known for its bright color theory, girl-centric themes, and charming characters. There’s action, romance, Shakespearean levels of tragedy, and strong female bonds that many of us dream of experiencing in real life. These girly heroines fight the forces of evil in a way that differs from the powered-up punching matches that we see in the Shounen (boy) genre — They show us that grace, inner strength, spirit, and the healing power of love / friendship is Queen!

Yes, there is a beautiful whimsy that permeates the Mahou Shoujo greats like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Precure. But there is also a deeply literal and symbolic darkness to the genre that accurately depicts the duality of female existence.

(This intro makes me realize that I need to write a full retrospective on this topic, maybe on my personal Substack~)

Reinterpreting the Magical Girl

For this project, I’m adapting the term of Magical Girl to be a religious/cultural title while keeping in mind the intention of empowered femininity associated with the OG media. I’m upending the typical “young girls with secret identities” trope to instead build a history around the question, “What if girls really did run the world?” But I’ll be keeping the concept that magic is a somewhat rare and important resource that can be accessed primarily by Magical Girls, making them stewards of great power and influence.

The Coven is the colloquial name for The Velethane: Blessed warriors and mages of The Vele, their divinity. This is intended to bring a high-fantasy bend to the genre and to imagine a matriarchal society built on the protection & work of Magical Girls.

The first Priestesses may be femme in my lore, but regardless of gender identity, any individual that devotes themselves to the Coven’s creed can become one of their Velethane. Thankfully, no one can be too elitist about the gender inclusivity — Sailor Moon already features genderqueer Scouts!

I’m very into the idea of the Coven having their particular secular religious code, while each Velethane brings their own cultural background into the mix from their homeland, creating the ultimate melting pot in their group. I can imagine that some would find it very difficult to balance a love of their beliefs with the attachment to their roots, which would be a great jumping off point for character roleplay!

Creating a Matriarchy

ma·tri·ar·chy
noun
a system of society or government ruled by a woman or women.
⭒ "a matriarchy run by morally superior women"
a form of social organization in which descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line.
the state of being an older, powerful woman in a family or group.

One of the first things I thought about for the Coven was their matriarchal structure; real life religions, cults, and governments are dependent on hierarchy to grow and hold any type of power. How would a group of mages define their ranks and determine who is worthy?

This opened up a whole list of additional questions that would need to be addressed first:

• What is the Creed, what do they believe, and what are they opposed to?
• How did the Coven come to be?
• What are the Velethane and how do people become members?
• How would they educate each other in the ways of magick, and whom would be responsible for that education?
• How do they determine who makes up a “team” of Magical Girls, and what is the purpose of these teams?
• How do other groups in the Realm feel about the Coven and their Creed?
• Who are their allies? Who are their enemies?

Every question sparks another and it gets to be a little overwhelming but also exciting~ I have hundreds of ideas rattling around in my brain from naming conventions to holidays to symbology! I’m leaning heavily on the OG Magical Girl genre to help me keep the answers in-line with the aesthetic — Love and justice can’t be the only defining factors but they’re at the top of my list. I haven’t figured out where to put it all yet or how to divide it up for this log to be honest.

I’ve started designing a “Coven Handbook”, a little in-character zine that introduces the Coven to potential players; a fun, cheeky way to show other TTRPGers my concept and give them enough of a jumping off point to adapt it into their own games! I was hoping to have it ready for the Argren event so that I could hand out free copies, but I don’t have enough of it ready and I have SO much to research yet.

I need a free weekend with just me and my pink planning notebook!

⟡ ALZ